I parked on Main Street and as I waked up towards Kenny’s Westside Pub I passed the Apollo Theatre and saw some weird signage there. The Marty Monologues...I keep hearing about this from the voices in my head and I’ve been wondering what the hell this is all about. Well we might just find out tonight, if not I better go see a psychiatrist, let’s keep moving along here.

Here we are at tonight’s Saturday night dinner destination, Kenny’s Westside Pub. Sean moved downtown from Farmington Road back in 2016, hard to believe almost two years has gone by since he moved down here! Check out this post from when he was first moving in here.

There’s a big crowd in here and I saw some familiar faces up at the bar getting their picture taken and it caused this blog post to take an unexpected turn...

The people in the picture are Victor Flores and his wife Lori. They were posing while the bartender took a photo of them with Lori’s son Maurice and his wife Calle. Victor then told me that there was a birthday party going on for his sister, Linda. Linda and I have been friends since we were both trouble-makers at Bergan High School and I haven’t seen her for years, so I happily joined this festive birthday party in the back room of Kenny’s.

I traveled to the back room and found Linda’s brother Mike, my friend Sheila and Linda’s son Rick. And in the bottom pnoto is the birthday girl herself, having a selfie taken by her niece, Abbey.

Here’s a group photo from the birthday party, clockwise from left: Mike, Sheila, Lindsay, Rick, Beth, Tony, Becky and Linda. It was great to see everyone, especially Linda. We haven’t talked to each other for a long time and it was fun to catch up with each other’s lives! Happy birthday, Linda! Hope to see you again soon! And don't forget to shop Flores Music for all your musical needs!

Okay, time to resume the Saturday night post at the bar. That’s Ned the bartender serving me up an ice-cold bottle of Budweiser and he took a photo of me wearing one of the first-ever Kenny’s Grateful Dead styled t-shirt. I placed my dinner order and Saturday night has officially begun!

Here’s a shot from the back of the bar and the wooden booths that line the walls up front.

I love all the unique art and photos that decorate the walls in here. And my favorite is the Grateful Dead influenced painting by Bob Whitaker at the bottom.

Meanwhile, back at the bar...

Dinner is served! I got some of Kenny’s famous chicken wings with an order of cole slaw. The cole slaw was crispy, tart and very tasty. Kenny’s is known for their fantastic chicken wings and these lived up to that reputation. They have 11 styles of wings and I got the Teriyaki Parm and they were so delicious! All the food is cooked fresh to order here and you can see the entire menu here. Before you know it, this feast turned into a pile of bones and napkins on a plate. Now it’s time for dessert!

Check out who’s serving up dessert, the esteemed owner of Kenny’s Westside Pub, Sean Kenny! Always great to see Sean and check out those posters he’s holding. I think it’s finally time to spill the beans and announce the upcoming Marty Monologues Show!

The Marty Monologues

This is the official poster for the show. Basically, it’s going to be kind of like the Vagina Monologues, but with a real dick. And that aforementioned dick would be me, Marty! This is going to be a show at The Apollo Theatre on Main Street, the last Sunday in September (September 30th). It’s going to be a night of stories, songs and sandwiches, keep on scrolling to find out exactly what’s going to happen at this show and who's involved in it.

The Posters and Printing of the Posters

The logo, artwork and design for the Marty Monologues poster and social media art was created and designed by Chelsie Tamms. She’s a genius when it comes to hand-lettered logos, art and branding for your business. Check out more of her work here at her Lettering Works website and her facecrack page.

The posters, flyers and tickets were printed, trimmed and finished at Technicraft and Colleen Kimball oversaw the project and they did a fantastic job as always. You can read more about Colleen and Technicraft at their website and facecrack page.

The Performers

The performers in the show are from top: Me, I’ll be introducing the show and telling three entertaining stories in a monologue form. In between the stories I’m going to be making three sandwiches and three lucky audience members will win them and get to come up on stage with me for a moment of fame in Peoria!

Jonathan Wright, A.K.A. DJ juanGoblin will be spinning music from his DJ booth before the show and in between stories while I make the sandwiches. You can read all about him and his DJ skills on his facecrack page.

The show is a nice combination of art from Chelsie, production from Technicraft, live music from Sarah and Brandon, DJ talent from DJ juanGoblin and stories and sandwiches from Yours Fooly. It's a unique showcase of local art in Peoria. It all takes place in the Apollo Theatre, a classic and historical theatre on Main Street in downtown Peoria. And the fun continues after the show is over...

The After-Party @ Kenny's Westside Pub W/ Free Chicken Wings!

After the show we’re having an after-party in the spacious and fun back room at Kenny’s Westside Pub with FREE chicken wings and drawings for prizes! The show starts at 7pm at the Apollo and will end between 8 and 8:30pm, then the after-party at Kenny's Westside Pub goes on for as long as you want to stay! You have to buy tickets in advance and below is the ticket information.

Tickets

That’s John and De Ingles from Smiley Grafix and they purchased the first quartet of tickets! I thank them both for that! At least I know that there will be four people there the night of the show!

You can buy tickets at the following sponsor locations: Acme Comics, Kenny’s Westside Pub, Lit. on Fire Used Books and Relics Gift Shop. Tickets are 15 dollars for one and 25 dollars for two. If for some reason you can’t make it to these locations, just email me and I’ll get you a ticket. You have to buy tickets in advance, we won't be selling them the night of the show.

When you come to the show you'll get a Marty Monologues mini-poster and the first 50 that show up for the show get a limited edition Marty Monologues sticker!

Thanks to everyone involved in this, it’s really going to be a different and fun night in Peoria! I hope to see all of you there! Now I have to go and rehearse for this thing so I don’t make a total fool out of myself!

P.S. I've set up a Marty Monologues page here at the blog and it will be updated with information and pictures. Check it out right here!